


PARTNERS

by thinker1357



Series: Words Have Many Meanings [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: M/M, My First Fanwork, i have no idea where i went with this, they're too cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 06:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6741637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thinker1357/pseuds/thinker1357
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas is coming around and Dick's been kicked out of the Manor...... again. No one is exactly happy with Bruce but he doesn't seem to care, all he can think of is a certain blue-eyed boy wonder. Read to find out if I can pair them together in one chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	PARTNERS

**Author's Note:**

> Like it says in the tags I really had no idea where I went with this. I meant for it to be more focused on Dick and Damian's relationship but then I couldn't help myself and added in BruDick......  
> I edited it again on august 20th 2017... fixed the formatting.

The manor was dark without him. He always was a light, no matter where he went. They could be in the darkest, dankest prison in space, yet he would find a smile to share, a joke to tell, something to lighten up the situation. But Bruce, in his jealousy, had told him to leave (again) and never come back, had told him that he wasn't Damian's father. Which was completely false; Dick might not have been Damian's biological father but, he might as well have been. 

Damian and he had a relationship that Bruce and his son will never have. Dick is Damian's batman, not Bruce, the idea in itself had been ridiculous they're too alike to work properly together. But then again, Bruce had never worked properly with anyone except Dick. There was always an exception with Dick. Bruce sighed, shifting to get more comfortable in his chair.

Knock

Knock

Knock came the swift rapping from the door. 

"Master Bruce, there are visitors waiting for you in the foyer. Do come out and greet them." Alfred's muffled voice came from behind the door before light footsteps moved away.

 Bruce looked up with a hopeful look on his face. He got up from his chair and crossed the study and threshold. Walking into the foyer he saw two backs facing him looking at the giant Christmas tree that had been set up there. Bruce's heart sank as he noticed the male and female figures. 

"Tim, Steph, what are you doing here?"

"What we can't come visit our old man during the holidays?" Came the reply from the lithe blonde as she walked over and put her arms around him.

"Yeah, we know you like your privacy and all but Christmas is not a holiday you spend alone....... even if you do have the demon-child with you." Tim wrinkled his nose at the end of the sentence staring past Bruce.

"I am just as happy to see you as well, Drake" a sarcastic voice said from behind him. Bruce pinched his nose.

"Boys, if you’re going to argue, argue somewhere I can't hear you."

Tim looked back to Bruce, taking in his baggy eyes, pale skin and disheveled hair, which spoke of many hours working in the cowl.

"You're still fighting with Dick aren't you?" Tim sighed.

“Bruce, just go talk to him; I'm pretty sure he's already forgiven you. He's just waiting for you to make the first move."

"I don’t deserve to be forgiven." Bruce said in a tired, defeated voice. Damian and Stephanie stiffened and left the room as they sensed the beginnings of a serious conversation between the two men. Tim sighed again and crossed the space between them in a couple of strides, standing in front of his adoptive father.

"Bruce, you can't seriously think that. We all know that you were just stressed out when you last saw Dick, Dick especially knows this. You two were just flinging insults at each other out of frustration, neither of you ever meant what you said." Tim put his hand on Bruce's shoulder.

"Just go talk to him I'm sure he'll listen" Bruce twisted out of his grip, turning to face the hallway and looked down to the floor giving a bitter laugh.

"Why would he want to listen to me? I'm the one that chased him out of his home, twice."

"Because he loves you." Bruce's head shot up from where he had been counting the tiles. He turned and opened his mouth to rebuttal the accusation when Tim raised his hand in a silencing motion.

"Bruce, don't even try to deny it. Alfred tells me denial isn’t a nice place." Bruce smirked slightly at that, remembering the many times Alfred has told him that, before sobering as he noticed the small grin on Tim's face drop.

"When I first became Robin I immediately noticed that Nightwing and you had a special relationship, you both seemed to anticipate each other's moves almost as though you were reading each other's minds. At first I was jealous, I told myself that as Batman's Robin I should be able to do that, not Nightwing, but as time went and I also learned to do the same; I noticed it was more than that you knew each other so well you anticipate each other’s thoughts. In my head 'Batman and Robin: The Dynamic Duo' changed to 'Batman and Nightwing: The Dynamic Couple" Tim took a deep breath before he continued 

"It was after that revelation that I began to notice the small things you let each other get away with. The subtle glances Dick would give you, the gentle warnings you would give him underlined with worry." Tim smiled softly up at him, seemingly lost in his thoughts and memories.

"You always seemed to lighten up and smile more when he was around, he even gets you to laugh during patrol. You may not have realized it Bruce, but others around you did; Batman cared for Nightwing, even more than he cared for Robin." Tim looked up catching Bruce's eyes and forcing steel into his voice.

"I don't know who you're trying to fool but it's obviously not working. You're just hurting yourself AND Dick by trying to deny your feelings... and don't give me that shit about how he's your ex-ward and how scandalous it'll seem or how it'll never work. How do you know it’ll never work if you don’t try? And it doesn't matter if he's your ex-ward; key word is EX, besides who cares what people think? You never did before!" By now Tim was pacing the room moving his hands animatedly while he talked. He Paused in front of Bruce and ran a hand tiredly through his hair. 

"Look, it's none of my business. I-I-I practically already look up to Dick as another Da-parental figure and I'm pretty sure Jason and the Demon Spawn agree" Tim gave him a tired smile and turned around.

"Just think about" and he walked away leaving Bruce alone in the foyer with his thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He did think about it. He thought about Dick for weeks. His soft, silky raven locks that fell in his bright blue eyes. Eyes that seemed to captivate and read him every time he saw them. He thought about Dick's smile which could rival the sun, with his pretty pink lips that covered his pearly whites.

More than often Bruce found himself distracted during meetings and patrol. He almost fell off a rooftop, a couple of times, daydreaming. By Christmas week he had already raised concerns in many people's minds. Flash alone, had come up to Batman three times to ask if he was okay, the fact that the batglare hadn't scared him away the first time said how strange he had been acting.

Of course Bruce hadn't only been daydreaming, he had also been planning how he was going to confess. The plan was to be launched on New Year's Eve. Step one was to go to Dick's apartment and apologize lightly then ask him out to dinner. Step two was to take Dick out to Aldregio's Palace in the high-end part of Bludhaven. Step three was to go for a walk in Aldregio's garden, after eating, where he would confess and hopefully manage to ask Dick out. 

If Dick said yes to begin with, Bruce felt his throat clog up as he thought of it. He rubbed his gloved hands together and stepped deeper into the shadows. He pushed those thoughts away and swung to the next rooftop.... he'd make reservations tomorrow morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce's plans came crumbling down before he could even implement them (which basically described his life). Dick came back to the manor that morning. Bruce had woken up to the doorbell ringing and had heard Tim’s whoops of excitement, Damian’s joyful call of Grayson and Jason’s sarcastic greeting. His heart pounded in his chest while he walked down the stairs, he followed the sounds of laughter and talking to the dining room. He took a deep breath and smiled softly at the thought of seeing Dick again.

Controlling his emotions he set a blank look on his face and opened the door, the moment he stepped into the room all sounds stopped and he found himself staring at Dick. His breath hitched in his throat and he felt his heart slowly being squeezed by an iron fist. He tried to open his mouth to speak but found he couldn’t, all he could do was stare into his bright blue eyes and be sucked into the warmth affection…. And dare he say it; love in his eyes. 

He felt Damian’s stiff arms go around his legs in what he assumes is a hug. Shocked out of his trance, Bruce breaks his eye contact with dick to look down at his youngest son. When he looks up again all the kindness in Dick’s eyes had been replaced with an icy look. Dick murmured an excuse and left the dining room, four pairs of eyes trailing after him before three of them turned to glare at Bruce. 

“What did you do?” accused Jason before he could get one word out.

“He kicked Grayson out of the manor.” 

“What?!  Doesn’t he know-“

“Calm Down, Jason, I’ve already given him the lecture.” Tim cut off holding up his hand.

“And he still hasn’t done anything? So much for being Mr. Playboy, you can’t even woo your own ward.” Jason sneered.

“I’m out.” Jason said picking up his jacket off a chair and standing up.

“Sit down, Master Jason” came Alfred’s sharp voice as he appeared in the entrance pushing a cart filled with the day’s breakfast. Alfred’s glare fell on all of them causing Jason and the rest of the family to retake their seat and look down.

“I have waited for years to have a normal familial Christmas without the world in danger or a mortal injury. This is the first year where everyone has come to manor willingly and bloody hell if I miss this opportunity just because certain people in this family are uneducated in the art of showing affection.” Ending his lecture with a final glare towards Bruce; he began to unload the plates. The dining room fell into an uncomfortable silence only broken by the clinking and clanking of forks on plates. Bruce finally stood up straightening his suit.

“I’ll see everyone at patrol” he said and walked away. 

The week went by and Bruce hadn’t seen Dick since that day in the dining room, but he knew that dick was still in the manor. The banister had shoe marks on it, the chandelier was crooked and the Nightwing suit had taken residence in the Batcave again. Bruce took those facts as signs that he wasn’t forgiven. 

Bruce adjusted his cufflinks and looked into the mirror. He looked every bit like the playboy ‘Brucie’ as the media had dubbed him.  If it were up to him he would have gone on patrol instead of attending the ball, but the Wayne Foundation Ball was too important to miss. The tradition had been going on before Bruce was born and all the money donated would go to help build homes for the homeless. It would look strange if he didn’t appear at his own function especially one as traditional as this. He ran his fingers through his hair and checked his watch. 

8:30

He was late, he walked out of the master bedroom and into the hallway.

“Tim, Damian come downstairs the limo’s waiting.” Muffled shouts and heavy footfall came from down the hallway before the two boys stumbled around a corner in their suits.

“We’re late” Bruce said turning to leave.

“We have to wait for Grayson he prom-insisted that he will be coming as well.” Bruce noticed that Damian had cut himself off.  Dick hadn’t decided to come willingly then. Bruce growled and opened his mouth to question Damian when Tim butt in.

“Dick said that he’d come in his own car.” Tim said tossing a pointed glare in Bruce’s direction.

“He said that since he wasn’t technically invited it would look weird if he came with us.” Bruce nodded a plan coming to life in his head.

“Tim, take Damian and go to the party without me. I’ll catch up later.” He turned and walked down the hall to the garage. He heard Damian scoff in surprise and felt Tim’s stare on the back of his head but he kept moving. Bruce reached the garage and scanned row after row of cars looking for the blue Maserati he had gifted Dick on his sixteenth birthday. Spotting it he walked up to it, opened the passenger door and slipped in. He sunk down in the seat and closed his eyes, breathing in the smell of old leather, coffee and Dick’s cologne. 

Opening his eyes he looked around the car. The black leather on the driver’s seat was worn showing it was well used. There was a bag of hard candy in the cup holder and a stack of papers covering the backseat. Turning back around a flash of color caught his eyes and he leaned in getting a closer look. There were three photos taped to the dashboard.

 One was of Dick and the Titans at the beach on their weekly outings. Dick was standing in the back with one arm thrown around Wally’s shoulder and another supporting Kory who was on his back. He looked so carefree and wild, almost untamable with his hair ruffled by the wind in his proud, strong stance. Bruce felt his stomach turn and he moved on to the next picture.

The second photo was a family picture Alfred had forced them to take, the camera had gone off at the wrong time catching them unaware. He was sitting in a push armchair in a suit looking up at the ceiling with an exasperated expression. Next to him was Damian sitting on the arm in a suit as well. He had his arms crossed and was glaring at Tim, who was laughing at Jason. Jason was being reprimanded by Alfred who was fixing his tie. Alfred had his mouth open, gloved hands on Jason’s collar. Jason seemed to be explaining something; gesturing with his hands. And, in the middle of it all was Dick. He was wearing a tuxedo with a hand on Damian’s shoulder and the other ruffling Tim’s hair, leaning his lower body on the chair watching Alfred and Jason with a soft smile. 

He was the eye of the storm, the only one who seemed to be calm in the picture. The picture was clearly a mess and showed how dysfunctional Bruce’s family really was, but it seemed that Dick liked it that way. Bruce smiled thinking back to that day. He shook his head clearing the memories before moving on to the third picture.

This one was of only the two of them, it looked like it was taken after Bruce’s return. He was in normal civilian clothing, holding Dick in his arms who was crying. Bruce had his face buried in dick’s hair and was clutching Bruce to his chest. Dick seemed to be saying something with his eyes filled with tears. The moment spoke of tenderness and love. 

Bruce’s head snapped up at the sudden noise of the garage door opening. Bruce froze rethinking his idea as he listened to the graceful footfall of Dick’s. He was batman He should be able to sneak away, Bruce turned to the side grasping the handle ready to open the door when Dick’s figure appeared in the driver’s window. The door opened Dick slid in. Bruce inwardly groaned and turned around to face Dick. At the crinkling of leather Dick turned to the side finally catching sight of Bruce. 

A tense silence took hold of the car and Bruce took it as an opportunity to study Dick. He was wearing a black Armani suit, ironed perfectly by Alfred, with a white dress shirt, a blue tie and handkerchief that matched his eyes. His bangs were swept to the side in a casual yet devastatingly perfect way. Looking up into Dick’s face his eyes zeroed in on his kissable lips, a sliver of pink peeking out between them before receding. Bruce shuddered and slowly lifted his gaze from Dick’s lips to his eyes. The same eyes which as a child used to look up at him in wonder and adoration. The same eyes which as a teenager had glared at him in fury and coldness; leaving and never intending to come back. But he had, he came back grown up no longer a teenager but a young man and those same eyes that once stared at him in awe and indifference now stared at him with another emotion. One he had trouble defining until he saw it in his own eyes one day while staring at Dick.

 He always knew that Dick loved him and he slowly found himself replicating the feeling. Light touches on the shoulder ‘accidental’ arm grazes and of course the subtle glances. But Bruce never truly accepted how he felt and because of this found himself repressing the emotion until it became a habit. Any advances made by Dick were shot down immediately and he barely made any skin to skin contact outside of sparring and medical attention. 

Looking at Dick now, he was at a loss for words. No words could ever describe how sorry he was for pushing Dick away or for causing hurt to flash through those baby blue eyes. No words could describe the pain he felt at ignoring his own feelings or the love he felt for the boy, now man sitting in front of him. 

So, at a loss for words, Bruce leaned forward and let his actions speak for him. He cupped Dick’s chin, gently drawing him closer and placing his hand on his hip. Bruce shut his eyes and leaned in pressing their lips together. The moment their lips met a jolt passed through him, and suddenly they were kissing. Not just him kissing dick but Dick kissing him back. He felt Dick’s hands settle in his hair before lightly tugging the strands to kiss him harder. Nothing could be heard in the car except for the slide of lips and the crinkle of clothes as they pulled each other closer. Bruce’s world was engulfed by Dick, all he could smell, feel, think of was Dick. 

It ended all too soon as Dick pulled away to take a breath. Bruce let go of Dick’s face, dropping it to clutch his hand instead. He leaned back into the chair watching Dick as he tried to get his breath back.

“I’m sorry, I had no right to say what I did. You mean so much to Damian. You mean so much to me…”Dick turned in his seat to look at Bruce seeming to be contemplating something. 

“Ok”

“Ok? That’s it, you’re not going to yell at me or tell me how stupid I am?” Dick laughed.

“Bruce, you apologized, that rarely happens. I plan to enjoy that but if you really want me to mad again you can come back later, I’m sure I can think of something you did that annoys me.” Dick smirked and leaned over the cup holder, placing his face in front of Bruce’s, staring into his eyes.

 “I forgive you, Bruce.” He leaned in giving a chaste kiss to Bruce’s lips before leaning back and sitting down in the driver’s seat. 

“So, I guess we better get going, can’t have all of Gotham’s high society waiting for ‘Brucie’ Wayne.” Bruce smiled fixing his hair in the mirror while Dick started the car and pulled out of the garage.

“They can if it means I can spend more time with ‘Dickie’ Grayson.” Dick’s eyebrows rose above his hairline in surprise. He glanced at Bruce out of the side of his eyes.

“Maybe.”

Bruce stepped out of the passenger seat, flooded by a seat of flashing light and excited voices. On the other side of the car Dick was already on the red carpet with a fake smile plastered on his face talking with a reporter.  Seeing Dick in a suit and in his element brought a smile to his face and he walked over. 

“Mr. Wayne!” The reporter’s face lit up as she saw him. She pushed Dick to the side and scampered over to him. Bruce frowned lightly and walked up behind Dick. 

“What is the meaning of Dick and you coming together in the same car? The last time you were seen together in public you were arguing followed by Dick’s Emancipation. Does this mean that you’re turning over a new leaf as friends?” 

“No, we’re not friends” Bruce stated watching the reporter’s face fall, before slipping his arm around Dick’s waist.

“We’re PARTNERS…” 


End file.
